SOCIAL ACTIVISTS from South Korea

Top 5

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary South Korean Social Activists of all time. This list of famous South Korean Social Activists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Yun Chi-ho (1864 - 1945)

With an HPI of 62.34, Yun Chi-ho is the most famous South Korean Social Activist.  His biography has been translated into 79 different languages on wikipedia.

Yun Chi-ho (Korean: 윤치호; January 23, 1865 – December 6, 1945) was a Korean politician. His name is sometimes spelled Yun Tchi-Ho, his art name was Jwaong (좌옹), and his courtesy name was Seongheum (성흠). Yun was born a member of a prominent aristocratic (yangban) family. He was the son of General Yun Ung-nyeol, who served as a minister in the Joseon government. Yun's connections earned him the rare opportunity to study abroad, and he did so in China, Japan and the United States. In the United States, he attended both Vanderbilt University and Emory University. Yun was a prominent politician during the late Joseon and Korean Empire periods. He was a member of a number of reformist organizations, including the Independence Club, the People's Joint Association, and the New People's Association. He was a strong nationalist especially in his early years. He served in various government positions. He was also an ardent Methodist Christian, and an early leader of the Korean YMCA. Although Yun was widely considered a nationalist for much of his early career, as Japan tightened its grip over Korea and eventually colonized it in 1910, Yun began to support the cause of the Japanese. He notably did not support many of the actions of the Korean independence movement, such as the March First Movement. As such, many recent Koreans remember him as a collaborator ("chinilpa").

2. Soh Jaipil (1864 - 1951)

With an HPI of 57.22, Soh Jaipil is the 2nd most famous South Korean Social Activist.  His biography has been translated into 58 different languages.

Seo Jae-pil (Korean: 서재필; January 7, 1864 – January 5, 1951), better known by his English name Philip Jaisohn, was a Korean American politician, physician, and Korean independence activist. He was the first Korean to become a naturalized citizen of the United States. He also founded the Tongnip Sinmun, the first Korean newspaper written entirely in Hangul. Jaisohn was one of the organizers of the failed Gapsin Coup in 1884. He was thus convicted for treason and sought refuge in the United States where he became a citizen and earned a medical doctorate. Upon returning to Korea in 1895, Jaisohn was offered a position as a chief advisor of the Joseon government. He declined, choosing to focus on reform movements where he advocated for democracy, Korean independence and self reliance from foreign intervention, numerous civil rights and universal suffrage. Jaisohn was forced to return to the United States in 1898, from where he participated in the First Korean Congress and advocated for the March 1st Movement and U.S. Government support for Korean independence. Jaisohn became a chief advisor to the United States Army Military Government in Korea after World War II and was elected as an interim representative in South Korea in the 1946 legislative election. He died in 1951 shortly after returning to the United States during the Korean War. His remains were reinterred at the Seoul National Cemetery in 1994. Jaisohn was an admirer of American-style liberalism and republicanism. He was also reform-minded, and sought to revise Confucianist culture and institutions in Korea.

3. Ryu Gwansun (1902 - 1920)

With an HPI of 53.81, Ryu Gwansun is the 3rd most famous South Korean Social Activist.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Yu Gwan-sun (Korean: 유관순; Hanja: 柳寬順; December 16, 1902 – September 28, 1920) was a Korean independence activist. She was particularly notable for her role in South Chungcheong during the March 1st Movement protests against Japanese colonial rule. She has since become one of the most famous Korean independence activists and a symbol for the movement.

4. Ho Jong-suk (1908 - 1991)

With an HPI of 52.57, Ho Jong-suk is the 4th most famous South Korean Social Activist.  Her biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Ho Jong-suk (Korean: 허정숙; RR: Heo Jeongsuk; MR: Hŏ Chŏngsuk; 16 July 1908 – 5 June 1991) was a prominent female figure in the Communist Party of Korea and sexual liberation of Korea under Japanese rule. From 1948, she served multiple offices in North Korea, including the Minister of Health and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Korea.

5. Yun Hyon-seok (1984 - 2003)

With an HPI of 47.00, Yun Hyon-seok is the 5th most famous South Korean Social Activist.  His biography has been translated into 79 different languages.

Yun Hyon-seok (Korean: 윤현석; Hanja: 尹賢碩; August 7, 1984 – April 26, 2003) was a South Korean LGBT poet, writer, and activist. He wrote under the pen names Yuk Wu-dang (육우당, 六友堂, home of six friends) and Seolheon (설헌, 雪軒), and was also known by his nickname Midong (미동, 美童, beautiful boy) or Donghwa (동화, 童花, Boy flower). Yun spent most of his life being excluded, bullied, and discriminated against for being gay. He used writing as an escape, something he carried with him after he dropped out of high school and moved to Seoul's Dongdaemun District. He became an active member and staff member of Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea. Yun participated in the LGBT rights movement, as well as movements in support of disability rights and sex worker rights and in opposition of mandatory conscription. A devout Catholic, Yun struggled immensely with the Church's rejection of homosexuality and spent much of his time arguing against misconceptions and cruelty. Yun died by suicide on April 26, 2003.